[tinyliny]

that was such a lovely critique by @horselovingguy. hard for me to add much.

yes, better photos will help show the overall 'balance' of the horse. that means, the length of back in relation to the neck, the angle of the hocks, whether or not the knees are straight, and if the neck is tied in high or normal

I rather like this horse . . . a lot. with a few more groceries and correct riding, he/she will be stunning. I have long admired the Australian Stock horse. I think they are one of the nicest 'all around' breeds out there. you could make money selling them in the US.

I like the generous amount of bone this horse has, . . see the large hocks? knees are also big. great shoulder, soft eye.

it's really hard to explain why, but this horse has a lot to offer, only lacking in condition and muscling. if he/she is yours, you are sooooo lucky!

 

[tinyliny]

what's he like to ride?

 

[tinyliny]

If he's that good, don't let him get away from you!!!
finding a horse that good is really tough,.

best of luck to you becoming his owner. I've leased a lot of horses, and some of them I wished I had tried harder to become their owners. but, as a person learns, life is full of regrets.

 

[tinyliny]

I had this wonderful book on horse conformation, that came from England. lovely photos and explanations.

However, the horses they cite as 'good', won't do well for any sort of cattle or range work. so, to a certain extent, some parts of conformation are dependent on the horse's use. long rear canons, or downhill-ness might be good for one thing, yet bad for another.

take it all with some understanding as to what you want your horse to be built to do, and what is fair of you to ask of him.

things I look for are:

over at the knees?? not so good for jumping
upright shoulder? may have a real jack hammer trot
really horizontal humerus (youll have to look that bone up) - could make it hard to lift the front legs up . may not be a tidy jumper
long back? (look at the top line from the back edge of the wither bone to the obvious sacro-illiac joint. is it longer than the distance from the back of the front leg to the front of the rear? a long back makes for a comfy ride for the human, but may be hard on horse for a heavy rider, over many miles.
look at pasterns. . . . are they long? or upright? or too horizontal? this is important.

look at the throatlatch. is it thick, or is there room for the hrose to tuck?
look at the angle of the hip. is it really flat (parallel to ground) or verttical? too mucyh either way is not good. part way in between is best.